Manager Mark Hughes admitted that he was not surprised that hat-trick hero Regan Linney again found the net as Carlisle hit back from 2-0 down to beat Reading 3-2 after extra time in their dramatic FA Cup first-round tie.
League One Reading appeared to be cruising into round two as they led 2-0 through goals from Lewis Wing and Mark O’Mahony.
But Linney struck twice in stoppage time and then in the fourth minute of extra time to send National League Carlisle through.
Hughes, a four-time FA Cup winner as a player with Manchester United and Chelsea, said of 14-goal Linney: “Regan has been doing that all season.
“It’s no surprise anymore, the kid’s got something. As soon as he gets half a yard, he’s able to get so much power in his shots.
“He takes keepers unawares and they react too late. He’s always likely to hit the target.
“I’m really pleased for the lads. They stuck at it and never lost any of their belief even when we were 2-0 down.
“As soon as we got one goal back, there was always a sense that we were going to kick on. We just got stronger and braver in possession.”
New Reading manager Leam Richardson only took over on Tuesday, replacing the sacked Noel Hunt.
“I’m obviously disappointed with the result,” Richardson said. “I’ve only been here a minute so I’m still learning about a lot about people and the team and individuals.
“We’ve thrown a team together, with all the injuries that we’ve got, and some of the young lads have probably played together for the first time.
“In the whole 90 minutes, we probably saw exactly where we are as a football club.
“We just had a mad 10 minutes just as the [stoppage time] board went up and then we struggled to recover our self-belief and our thought process.”
